Missing teen survived a week on creek water

An Australian teenager survived on creek water for a week as searchers looked for her crashed car in remote bush near Canberra.

Kathleen Bautista, 19, went missing last week in the ACT's west, having crashed her car down an embankment off an unmarked road, ABC News reports.

Her black Hyundai hatchback was found by search and rescue workers near Cotter Reserve around 10:30am today (local time) but it wasn't until more staff arrived that they saw Ms Bautista's hand raised on a nearby ridge.

She hadn't had food for seven days and survived by drinking water. She was taken to hospital dehydrated and suffering from exposure.

The search for Ms Bautista focused on bushland near Black Mountain where she had used her phone last Saturday. There were grave concerns for her safety.

The Canberra community quickly rallied to help her, with around 100 volunteers distributing 30,000 flyers seeking information on her whereabouts.